Can Republicans Move the Needle on Inflation? – By Yuval Rosenberg and Michael Rainey (The Fiscal Times) / Oct 26, 2022
Good Wednesday evening. Tomorrow morning we’ll get our first reading on economic growth in the third quarter, and Friday will bring new data on inflation and consumer spending. In the meantime, here’s what we’re watching while digesting the fallout from last night’s political debates.
Biden and GOP Hammer Away on Inflation and the Economy
In the final days before the 2022 midterm elections, President Joe Biden has sought to hammer home a closing message to voters concerned about the economy and inflation: He and his fellow Democrats are working to bring down costs for families; Republicans will make things worse if they win.
Biden was at it again on Wednesday, touting falling gas prices, a rules change that allows hearing aids to be sold over the counter, and a program that provides discounted or free broadband internet service to millions of Americans. Biden also announced new actions to protect Americans from “junk fees” such as surprise bank overdraft charges, some credit card late fees and hidden hotel booking costs.
The White House cited estimates that found that credit card late payment fees generated $12 billion in revenue for companies in 2020, while bank overdraft fees totaled about $15.5 billion as of 2019 and hotel resort fees came to nearly $3 billion in 2018. Baggage fees, meanwhile, produced about $6 billion in revenue for airlines last year.
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